On 21 August 2017 Nike announced The Ten, Virgil Abloh's deconstruction of ten Nike, Jordan and Converse silhouettes, split into two themes called Revealing and Ghosting. The first five reached NikeLab stores in New York, London, Milan and Paris that September, the full set followed in November, and the idea of a sneaker collab as a cultural event stuck. Nine years on, the mood has flipped. GQ's 2026 Sneaker Survey says the golden age of Air Jordan collaborations and retros dominating the market has largely come to an end, with people moving toward comfort and personal style, and GQ's best-sneakers-of-2026 piece calls the collab world oversaturated. So I want the exclusives that earn their place, not the loudest ones. Rick Owens, who launched his label in Los Angeles in 1994 with Michele Lamy, makes the Moncler Trailgrip Megalace in black leather and rubber, and it is the one pair here I would call a statement without blushing. The adidas Originals x Hartcopy BW Army in gray is the quiet collab, and the Common Projects Deck in white is the control group against which everything else is judged. Wear the Rick Owens with plain black trousers and nothing else loud. What I would skip is the Golden Goose Super-Star in cream for a wet commute, because distressed canvas and puddles are a bad argument.

Common Projects started in 2004 with Prathan Poopat and Flavio Girolami, and made in Italy is still the pitch. Each pair carries a line of numbers on the heel for style, size and color, now stamped in gold foil, which is the whole brand in one detail. The Achilles in brown leather and the Deck in navy are the two I would hand to anyone who owns three pairs of chinos and nothing else. Golden Goose takes the opposite route. It began in 2000 in Marghera, near Venice, and the Ball Star in dark brown suede-trimmed leather shows why people like the worn-in look: the beat-up finish is the product, not a flaw. Then there is LOEWE, whose Cloudsolo collaboration with On puts Madrid's 1846 leathermaking name onto a running sole in dark brown or green mesh. That is the pair for people who actually walk to work. Try this test: if you can wear it with both a wool overcoat and gray sweatpants, it earns its place. What I would skip is the Omni Dellow in brick for a conservative office, since the color reads as a decision in a room full of navy.

The final grid is mostly Mr P., Mr Porter's own label, launched on 7 November 2017 and built around an Essentials range and mini drops instead of typical seasons. Forbes reports it now ranks among the top five brands sold there, and I understand why: the Larry in white leather and the Carlos in brown suede and leather are the plain, sensible shoes of the group. For the Mr P. skeptics, the classic plimsoll in blue canvas is the casual end of the same idea. Common Projects returns with the Achilles in burgundy, gray and green, which is my pick if you want a clean low-top with a hint of personality. The Golden Goose Super-Star Private EDT in brown makes room for the star logo introduced in 2007, the one with a point deliberately shortened. The Loewe x On Cloudventure 2.0 in green is the one sporty outlier in the group. Highsnobiety argued this January that fashion week had moved on from sneakers, with loafers and boots leading, so buy one of these to disappear under a pair of trousers. What I would skip is the Mr P. suede low top in green if your jackets are mostly navy and black; it will not talk to them.

The thing the collab era taught me is how fast the loud pair dates, and how slowly the clean one does. If you only buy one sneaker this season, make it a plain leather pair: the Common Projects Deck in white or the Mr P. Larry. Buy a second in suede, say the MORJAS Deck in navy, from a Stockholm label founded in 2017 that, according to Mr Porter, takes more than eight weeks and 128 steps per pair. Only then consider the collaboration, the Rick Owens x Moncler or the LOEWE x On, and pick it because it solves a real problem, not because of the logo. Highsnobiety said sneakers are now in a supporting role, and I think that is healthy. Let the shoe sit quietly under good trousers and a coat, and let the collab be the one thing you notice. Treat the suede with a protector spray and rotate pairs so none wears down too fast.

After the plain pairs and the collabs, there is a middle ground I enjoy, which is the sneaker with a little character that still behaves around trousers. For that I would look at the Golden Goose Super-Star in distressed full-grain leather and the Soul Star in suede and leather. If you want something calmer, the Common Projects Minimal Runner and BBall Duo keep the lines clean, and the LOEWE Ballet Runner 2.0 comes in a plainer suede-trimmed leather version as well as the logo one. Officine Creative offers The Answer 001 and the Militia 001 in deerskin, while the Axel Arigato Dice Low Top and the Maison Margiela Replica are the quiet ones. What I would skip: the distressed Golden Goose pair under tailored trousers, because the worn look argues with a sharp crease. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Nike Vomero and The Sneaker Trends to Know This Fall.